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Straight answers to the questions people ask about buying, storing, cooking and understanding meat. Every answer comes from USDA, FDA, university extension and other primary sources, and each page lists them. If something here does not answer your question, email us at svf@serenityvalleyfarms.us.

• Why does my beef look gray or purple in the package?
  What is normal and what is not when beef looks dark, gray or brown.
• What is the difference between 70/30 and 80/20 ground beef?
  What the ratios mean, what the federal rules say, and how to check a label.
• A guide to beef cuts
  How ribeye, strip, chuck, brisket and other cuts differ, and which suit grilling or slow cooking.
• Dry-aged beef explained
  What dry aging is, how it differs from wet aging, and why it costs more.
• Safe cooking temperatures and meat food safety
  Safe temperatures for beef, pork and chicken, plus thermometer, thawing and smoker questions.
• Cooking meat: searing, resting, marinating and thawing
  Practical technique answers, from salting to cooking from frozen.
• How to store, freeze and thaw meat safely
  How long meat keeps and what to do when a box arrives partly thawed.
• Chicken and poultry: handling, cooking and labels
  Washing, temperatures, thawing, storing and what poultry labels mean.
• Pork, bacon and sausage: cuts, curing and handling
  Pork cuts, what uncured bacon means, and how long bacon and ham keep.
• Why heritage and Mangalitsa pork looks and tastes different
  Why this pork is fattier and what can cause off tastes.
• How to read meat labels
  What USDA inspection, grades, natural and organic mean on a label.
• Beef cuts explained: roasts, organ meats and lesser-known steaks
  What chuck eye, bavette, tri-tip, round roasts, shank, oxtail, tongue and liver are, and how to cook them.
• Beef cooking methods: searing, grilling, braising and brisket
  Reverse searing, two-zone grilling, braising, brisket and reheating leftovers.
• Pork cuts explained: chops, ribs, roasts and slow-cooking cuts
  Blade steaks, chops, country-style and St. Louis ribs, hocks, cheeks and lard.
• Sausage, bacon and ham: types, cooking and storage
  Bratwurst, kielbasa, andouille and chorizo, plus cooking, thawing, allergens and ham labels.
• Chicken cuts and cooking: thighs, wings, brining, smoking and stock
  Spatchcocking, thighs versus breasts, wings, brining, crisp skin and cooling stock.
• Freezer storage, power outages and checking a frozen meat delivery
  Freezer temperature, outages, damaged packages and what to check when a box arrives.
• Burgers, buns and barbecue sauce: storage, allergens and safe handling
  Freezing buns, sauce storage, marinade safety and serving burgers safely.
• Reading ingredient and packaging labels on meat, sausage and bacon
  Safe-handling instructions, net weight, Product of USA, natural flavor and nitrite claims.
• Pasture, feed and land care explained: what the words mean
  Pasture versus diet, hay, minerals, stocking rate, rest, cover and drought.
• Ordering frozen meat: weights, yields, gifts and what to do if something is wrong
  Hanging versus packaged weight, gifts, sold-out items and wrong, missing or damaged packages.
• Making jerky safely at home
  Why drying raw meat is not enough, and the temperatures USDA recommends.